The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting and hemming cloths, particularly for manufacturing quilts, duvets and the like.
The term "cloth" is used hereinafter to designate any product on which quilting is performed. A cloth should therefore be understood as being composed of one or more sheets of woven or non-woven fabric, superimposed so as to form a single- or multilayer cloth.
In order to manufacture quilts, duvets and the like the individual sheets that compose them are first unrolled from the respective rolls on which they are rolled up and are then mutually superimposed, so as to form a cloth which is placed on a frame, and are sewn perimetrically.
In order to provide a faster positioning and sewing step, this same Applicant has already proposed an apparatus which is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 08/092,638 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,319, to which reference is made herein for the sake of better comprehension of the present invention.
Said apparatus is characterized in that it comprises two flexible elements which are closed in a loop on vertical planes and have two horizontal and parallel upper portions on which a transverse bar is fixed which is provided with grippers for engaging the front border of said cloth.
The flexible elements are actuated so that the cloth to be quilted is moved from a position for engaging the front border to a quilting position. To the side of the horizontal portions of the flexible elements additional stationary grippers are provided, which retain the lateral borders of the cloth when said cloth has reached the quilting position.
A carriage can slide parallel to the flexible elements and is provided with grippers which alternate with those of the transverse bar in order to grip the front border in the quilting position and release it when the cloth has been transferred onto removal elements.
The transition of the engagement of the front border of the cloth from the grippers of the bar to those of the carriage is found to be rather complex in this apparatus; this complexity entails a considerable structural complication which is detrimental to the low cost of the apparatus.
Moreover, the apparatus does not allow to complete the perimetric hemming of the cloth. While the front border of the cloth is sewn upstream of the station that cuts the cloth away from the remaining rolls of fabric, the rear border, after cutting, remains open and can be sewn only during a subsequent step.